Maryland 60, Virginia Tech 55

Chris Lang, The Sports Xchange

The SportsXchangeFebruary 8, 2013

BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Maryland freshman Jake Layman had his second huge game against Virginia Tech this season, leading the Terrapins to a 60-55 win Thursday night at Cassell Coliseum and a season sweep of the Hokies. Layman scored a team-high 14 points and was instrumental in two early runs, including a 9-0 run to start the second half that helped Maryland erase a three-point halftime deficit. Erick Green, the nation's leading scorer, led Virginia Tech with 29 points. Maryland (17-6, 5-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) earned its first league road game in five tries. The Terrapins led 46-37 with 10:47 left after an Alex Len dunk, but the Hokies rallied to cut the lead to two on a Green 3-pointer with 8:49 left. Maryland answered every Virginia Tech charge the rest of the way. The Hokies got within one with 1:27 left after a Jarell Eddie rebound led to a transition jumper for Green, who knocked it down to cut the Terrapins' lead to 54-53. Len drew contact from Cadarian Raines on Maryland's next possession, then hit two free throws to give Maryland a 56-53 lead with 58 seconds left. Robert Brown missed a shot on the Hokies' next possession, and a pair of Nick Faust free throws with 28 seconds left pushed Maryland's lead to five, putting the game away. Green and Raines combined for 43 of the Hokies' 55 points. Eddie and Brown combined for four points on 2-of-17 shooting from the floor. Len, Maryland's leading scorer, finished with 10 points and five rebounds. The Terrapins built an early double-digit lead behind the hot shooting of Layman, who had his breakout game earlier this season against the Hokies in College Park. Layman scored eight of Maryland's first 10 points, and fellow frosh Seth Allen canned a 3-pointer with 9:59 left to give Maryland a 21-10 edge. The Terrapins' offense went cold after that, though, as Virginia Tech clawed its way back into the game. The Hokies went on a 12-1 run capped by a pair of Green free throws to tie the game at 22-22 with 3:44 left in the half. James Padgett ended a long Maryland drought with a basket on the next possession, the Terps' first field goal in 6:44. A Green 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:04 left gave the Hokies their first lead since 2-0, putting Tech ahead 27-24, the last points of the half for either team. NOTES: Virginia Tech guard Marquis Rankin missed the game with the flu. ... Green was on the watch list for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard, but when the finalists were announced Thursday, he was not selected one of the 12 still in the running for the honor. ... In the last meeting, a 94-71 Maryland rout of the Hokies in College Park, Allen and Layman broke the 20-point mark, the only time two freshmen have scored 20 in the same game in program history.